THEY have dug, tarmacked and painted.

Workers have spent almost a year transforming two of the county's busiest motorway junctions.

Drivers have endured months of road closures, delays and narrow lanes as part of a multi-million-pound jam-busting scheme.

But now the cones are finally coming down.

Within the next four weeks Highways England will fully reopen junctions three and five of the M27 - boosting capacity at the traffic blackspots.

As previously reported, workers have been at junction five at Eastleigh since last August as part of a £8m project to reduce bottlenecks.

Another team have been bustling around behind traffic cones at junction three since October as part of a similar £2.3m scheme.

Both schemes, which will see the two junctions get extra carriageways and traffic lights, were part of the Government’s £300m motorway “pinch point” programme, which aims to remove bottlenecks on the nation’s roads.

Workers have been creating a third lane on the slip road off the westbound carriageway of the M27 and both the northbound and southbound approaches to the motorway from the M271.

They have also been widening the roads and sliproads on the approach to junction five and creating a separate left-turn lane onto the eastbound carriageway of the M27.

Now they are finishing the last few jobs, installing additional traffic lights and street lights and finishing cabling and the drainage systems at both sites.

It is hoped the increased capacity will support growth in and around Southampton including at Adanac Park, off the M271.

The site, owned by Barker-Mill Estates, will include 47,000 sq m of business space spread over four plots. Yew Tree Farm will also be redeveloped and 49 homes and an 80-bedroom care home will also be built, along with a 43,000 sq m Lidl regional distribution centre.

The whole project is expected to create an additional 4,000 new jobs.

Highways England asset manager Philip Sheppard said: “The M27 schemes are progressing well and drivers will be able to feel the benefits from both schemes in the coming weeks.

“The new surface has been completed at junction five and we are installing the traffic lights, which will help increase the capacity.

“Work has progressed very well at junction three and we anticipate that most of the work will be finished very soon.”

Leader of Hampshire County Council Cllr Roy Perry said: "We're pleased to see the work done. Clearly the free running of traffic on the M27 and M271 is important not only to the people who live in the area but also to the economy.

"There's going to be an enormous amount of pressure on the motorway due to upcoming developments and one of the things residents worry about with new developments is how it will effect the roads.

"Keeping the roads up to full capacity and keeping the roads open is extremely important."